inequality optimization exponent question

[gobaudd]

on page 99 of the equations book it says set terms with even exponents to 0 when trying to solve optimization problems. what does this mean/is there an example? i don't see this covered in the chapter.

[tim]

a simple example would be this: say we want to find the minimum possible value of x^2 + 7. set x=0 because that's going to give you the smallest possible value of x^2, and the answer is then 7. not a really useful trick to be honest; i wouldn't worry about it too much..